Some 800 million people in the world don’t have access to clean water, the President of the United Nations General Assembly, Sam Kutesa, has said.

If strategies are not developed to ensure that people can access improved water sources, the United Nations says that the figure could swell to 1.8 billion people by 2025.

According to Kutesa, the impact of water scarcity in the world could affect the existence of human beings and also pose a huge threat to the environment and the eco system.

“Approximately 800 million people still do not have access to an improved water source, while many more remain without a safe and sustainable water supply.

“Some estimates indicate as many as 1.8 billion people are living in countries that will face water scarcity by 2025,” he said.

According to a statement issued Monday by Jean-Victor Nkolo, the spokesperson of the UN General Assembly President, Kutesa was speaking at a high-level interactive dialogue on the international decade for action on water for life in New York, where he stressed the need to develop a plan for sustainable water management if sustainable development is to be achieved.

“The impact of water on human health as well as economic well-being is better understood than a decade ago, including water’s critical importance for households, industries, agriculture, cities, energy production and transportation,” he said.

Kutesa said that the International Decade of Action on “Water for Life” was launched in 2005 in response to the growing recognition of the challenges posed by the global water crisis.